Mark Steiner didn't set out to build a tech company — he set out to be an actor. After a decade working on New York film sets alongside Michael Keaton, Gene Wilder, Joe Pesci, and Robert De Niro, he found himself in Springfield, Missouri with a scrappy idea and a co-founder who could build it. That idea became Gig Salad — now the largest event entertainment marketplace in the US and Canada.
In this conversation, Mark walks us through the full arc: growing up in New Jersey, hustling his way onto movie sets as a PA, pivoting into talent booking, and eventually launching Gig Salad out of a building at the corner of Booneville and Chestnut in Springfield. We talk about what it actually took to build a 23-year-old company on nights and weekends with almost no outside capital, how Gig Salad surpassed its competitors, and why Springfield — not New York or Connecticut — turned out to be the best place to build it.
This episode is part of the Ozarks Experience series — long-form conversations focused on the people behind the work shaping the Ozarks.